Subete Kako Ni
by The Cat's Paw
Summary: Two clashing jutsu send Sakura, Sasuke, Sai, and Yamato careening back in time to a point before their village was even formed. With no way to get home in sight, will they simply stay out of history's way, or take this as an opportunity to change things for the better? MadaSaku main, SasuSaku.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi there! So, I'm trying my hand at MadaSaku. This is because I read a story on the favourite list of someone who reviewed Crossroads, and I ended up hooked. ;)**

 **(And that's exactly how I ended up in the Dramione shipping, too.)**

 **I wanted to do a time travel one, and I noticed that in each one, Sakura is the only one who goes back. At least, so far as I have read. So I stuck Sai, Yamato, and Sasuke with her. I wanted Naruto and possibly Kakashi there as well at first, but I feel better with the way I have it now.**

 **So anyway, I suck at fight scenes, but there are two in here. They're nothing grand, but I hope they're at least not pathetic. :(**

 **In any case, disclaimer that I don't own Naruto, and enjoy!**

 _ **Subete Kako Ni**_

 **Chapter One**

Sakura sighed.

Staring out at the landscape before her, she let her mind wander as she stood on guard. Two weeks ago, their brand new Hokage, her old sensei Kakashi, had sent them out here on a mission to track down a rogue ninja who'd stolen a scroll with a forbidden jutsu in it. It had been two years since the war had ended, and even though missions were down, there were still enough to keep the village secure, like this one.

The rogue in question was a rather despicable character, always preferring to prey on the weak. The ex-Kiri-nin was wanted in four out of the five shinobi nations, though Iwa had an agreement that if they found him, they'd hand him over to Kiri. The others, naturally, just wanted him gone because of what he'd done in their country. For Konoha, it was for the theft of forbidden scrolls and the slaughter of three innocent families in the past six months.

At this point, they were in Hot Springs country, close to the border of Frost. Their target was spotted a few days ago, headed down from Frost country, and they were here to intercept him. Sai had several ink birds out, whilst Yamato had two wood clones searching as well. The three of them were in constant contact via radio, Sakura had only recently checked in. Unless something happened, there wouldn't be a need to for another half hour.

Keeping watch was the only thing they could do until the target was spotted. She sighed once more keeping herself on alert as she kept watching the road. Ishii Saburo had been known to travel the civilian roads in order to hide himself, which was why she was here. There was, of course, still the chance that he'd take the shinobi route, which was where Sai and Yamato were on the look-out.

"Sakura. Sai."

Yamato's voice buzzed through her ear, startling her. "Taichou," she immediately responded. "Has something happened? Have you spotted the target?"

"Yes, he's coming down from the east," Yamato said. "You two, get over this way now."

"We're on our way, Yamato-taichou," Sai's voice came through.

Sakura headed off to Yamato's last known location. "How far have you moved?" she asked. "Are you still in the same place?"

"I'm three kilometres north of where I was," came her taichou's voice. "There's a large boulder near three trees that are slightly bent you can use as a landmark. Sai, did you copy that?"

"Yes, Yamato-taichou," was their team mate's response.

Soon enough, Sakura found Yamato, who'd already engaged the enemy. As she joined him in combat, Sai also turned up. Their target sneered at them, then wove some complicated hand-signs, and soon, a barrage of water bullets came flying at them. Yamato threw up an earth wall to block it. While it was up, Sakura created a clone, then disappeared into the earth. Headed straight over to their target, she reached up and yanked him hard down into the earth.

It was over quite quickly then. "Head-hunter jutsu, huh?" Yamato said. "I had no idea Kakashi taught that to you. That was quick thinking with the clone, Sakura."

"Thanks," Sakura said with a smile. "So what now?"

"Now," Sai said, "we head back to Konoha."

Once they'd gathered up everything and disposed of Ishii Saburo's body appropriately, they headed off. They were a day and a half from the village, going at full speed, of course. Time passed as they travelled, and they stopped for the night just over the border from Hot Spring country, not that far from the Valley of the End. They should get back to Konoha late that following afternoon, as long as they headed out at first light.

Sai took first watch, waking Sakura after the allotted time for her own watch. Twenty minutes into it, and she realised someone was headed straight for them. She pulled out a kunai, on guard, until she realised she knew the chakra, and relaxed. A few moments later, and Pakkun leapt onto a branch opposite her.

"Hey Pakkun," she greeted. "Fancy seeing you out here."

"Humph, I take it your mission was a success?" he said by way of greeting.

"Yup, we'll be headed back in the morning," Sakura told him. "Though maybe you might have something different to say about that?"

"Let's wake the other two first," Pakkun said, leaping down to the clearing. "I only wanna say this once."

Once Sai and Yamato were awake, Pakkun gave them a new mission. "Kakashi received a message from Sasuke," he told them. "He's in that new town that popped up at the Fire end of the bridge to Wave, at the Giant's Toe Inn. Apparently he's got some sensitive scrolls to hand over, and he won't trust anyone that he doesn't know to get them to the village."

"Why doesn't he just go deliver them to Hokage-sama himself?" Sai asked, but Pakkun just shrugged.

"Well in that case," Yamato said. "Pakkun, do you think you could get the scroll we retrieved to the village?"

"Of course," the ninken said. "Strap it on my back and I'll head out now."

Once that was done, Pakkun bid them farewell, then he was gone into the night.

"It's going to take longer to get to Tarui town than it will to get to Konoha," Sakura said. "Should we leave now, or still wait for morning?"

"We'll wait for morning," Yamato said. "Sai, can your largest bird carry all three of us? It would make the trip quicker."

"Yes, taichou," Sai answered. "It should get us there mid afternoon if we leave at first light."

"Alright, Sakura you're back on watch for a bit," Yamato said. "We'll leave straight off in the morning."

OoOoO

Tarui town was a bustling hub of activity, thanks to the income the bridge had brought about. Merchants from all over stopped here, plying wares either before moving on to Wave, or after coming out from there. Sakura had only been here twice before. Once, when it was in it's early stages, and again, shortly after the war. Both times the town had been subdued, due to its infancy, then the financial hit after the war.

The inn Sasuke was apparently at was unknown to them, and they had to ask for directions. It was near the bridge itself it seemed, and the person who told them that tried to recommend a different place, saying that the inn was a place that only the shady types frequented. They'd simply thanked him and headed out. Sakura kept alert for any signs of Sasuke's chakra as they moved through the streets.

Once they found the inn, she grimaced. It was _definitely_ not the sort of place that she would care to frequent. Why on earth would Sasuke want to meet someone here? Sakura shared a 'look' with her team mates, then took a deep breath before they went in. Every head in the place turned to look at them when they entered, but just as quickly, turned away. All eyes were still on them, though, surreptitious glances being all they received.

Sasuke was there, at a table in a darkened corner. His visible eyebrow rose at the sight of them as they made their way over, his other brow hidden by the hair that fell over the eye that housed his rinnegan. They made their way over and sat at the table with him.

"I wasn't expecting you three," he remarked as his greeting.

"Pakkun told us that you apparently wanted someone you knew," Yamato said.

"True," Sasuke conceded. "Still, it's a surprise." He turned to Sakura. "A _pleasant_ surprise."

"I guess we're the only ones who fit the bill that were out on a mission," Sakura shrugged after she rolled her eyes at him. "Pakkun said you have something for us?"

"Yes, but I won't hand it over in here," Sasuke said. "Do you see those three by the bar? The ones not even bothering to look inconspicuous."

Sakura glanced over, noting the ones he spoke of. "Who are they?" Sai asked.

"They've been tailing me for some time," Sasuke said. "Apparently they didn't like the fact that I 'liberated' several forbidden scrolls from them."

"They look like they want to kill you," Yamato remarked calmly.

"Can't you go _anywhere_ without upsetting _someone_?" Sakura asked, glaring when Sasuke just smirked at her.

"We should head out, try to lose them outside the town," Sai said. "Though if they're skilled enough to track you…"

"I'd actually lost them a few days ago," Sasuke said. "It's just dumb luck on their part that they found me again."

They stood then, and Sasuke went to pay for his meal and drink, before they headed out into the streets. "There will likely be more than the three waiting for us when they decide to attack," he told them once they were moving through Tarui. "Last count I had of their numbers, there were maybe fifteen of them."

"The four of us should be adequate to handle those numbers," Sai said.

Once out of the village, they were five minutes on foot along the road, then twenty minutes travelling at shinobi speed, before kunai with exploding tags came flying at them, forcing them to stop. A large number of enemy ninja appeared, at least twenty, though Sakura could sense at least a dozen more hidden from view. She glared at Sasuke.

"Fifteen, you said?" she asked accusingly.

"I said _maybe_ ," he told her. "Concentrate on them, not me."

Sakura scoffed. "Whatever," she said, then leapt forward, punching the ground. The earth shattered and five or so of the enemy lost footing as they all attacked.

The fight was on then. Sakura trusted her comrades to handle themselves as she launched herself at her enemy. Three of them came at her head on, but they were easily put down with a well timed kick here and two punches there. Then more came at her, wielding kunai. Sakura drew her own kunai to deflect their attacks, then launched a kick at one man, sending him flying into his comrades.

As the hidden enemy joined the fray, she could hear the sound of Sai's ink animals and Yamato's wood release, as well as the distinct sound of Sasuke's chidori. Sakura paid attention to it only lightly, just enough to let her know her comrades were still in the fight. Pretty soon, they had the thirty or so men reduced to about eight, but they'd all been driven together in one spot as their enemy surrounded them.

"Uchiha!" one of them yelled. "I'm gonna make you and your friends pay for what you've done!"

Sasuke merely 'hn-ed' as he shot a fireball at the man. "Argh! Everyone! Formation now!"

The eight remaining ninja immediately got into position around them and started weaving hand signs. "Shit!" Sasuke cursed. "They're using a forbidden technique! Get in close to me!"

Sakura, Sai, and Yamato leapt away from the enemy and to Sasuke, who'd pushed his hair back to uncover his rinnegan. Once the enemy jutsu was complete, Sasuke launched his own to counter it. It seemed to be working, he was nullifying the enemy jutsu. But then all of a sudden, it wasn't. Sasuke swore again as he furiously worked his sharingan and rinnegan, trying to regain the upper hand.

"Should you really be doing this?" Sakura asked, eyes wide in concern as both of his eyes started bleeding.

"Would you rather die?" he demanded, a bit too soon as suddenly, the enemy jutsu exploded.

Right there with Sasuke, they were protected in some sort of bubble. But Sakura could hear the enemy scream, and realised with horror that they were burning alive. She could barely make out the black flames of Amaterasu licking over their bodies, before suddenly there was silence. Sasuke's control over his jutsu wavered, and the protective bubble they were in shattered. As soon as it did, Sakura felt like all of her chakra was being drained, and it was all she could do to remain standing. Dimly she registered that Sai and Yamato were having difficulties as well, but Sasuke had collapsed to his knees, hands over his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, trying to move forward, but then she collapsed as well, a dark pit opening up to envelop her senses.

 **So how was it? I wanted it to be longer, and ended up rewriting it a couple of times, but this was where I wanted it to end, so whatever. I generally try to make the word count of my first chapter in stories to be the minimum for the length of each chapter, prologues not included, so that means at least two thousand or so each chapter.**

 **Review please! :)**

 _Subete Kako Ni: All in the past. Google translation._

 _Tarui: A Japanese town in the Gifu prefecture._

 **Ps: Really wanted to upload this yesterday, but FF had issues. :P**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there! New chapter already done.**

 **Disclaimer and enjoy, folks. :)**

 **Chapter Two**

The first thing she registered as she slowly rose to consciousness was a feeling of wooziness, followed by a faint desire to throw up. Breathing deeply so that it passed, Sakura could feel that her chakra in her seal had already kicked in to heal her. It was replenishing her basic level, which was incredibly low. Assessing the levels in her seal, she frowned when she found that it was fractured and leaking, with over a third of her reserves gone. Repairing it was a simple thing, though replenishing what was missing would take awhile.

Once she quickly repaired the seal, Sakura opened her eyes to look around her.

The first thing she saw was the blue sky above. The second, an unfamiliar tree line. Then, she felt her comrade's chakra, and sensed that they were lower than her own. That of course was only due to her body drawing from her seal, fractured or otherwise. Carefully she sat up, pulling herself over to the closest person, which happened to be Sai. A brief check over… He was fine. Next came Yamato, who was also fine. Both were depleted of all their chakra, their reserves slowly building back up as they lay unconscious, with only a few minor scrapes from their fight.

Next she checked on Sasuke, and gasped as she realised that both of his eyes were bloody and damaged. Thankfully not beyond repair though, so she released some of her stored chakra in order to heal them. What jutsu had he used? How had the enemy's forbidden jutsu been so strong that it had damaged Sasuke's eyes the way it had? After healing his eyes, she turned her attention to the part of his brain directly behind them and healed there too.

As she did so, she realised that, unlike Sai and Yamato, who were merely unconscious, Sasuke was in a coma. She frowned as she realised there was nothing she could do to wake him up. Maybe if they got him back to Konoha…? Once she'd stabilised him, she turned her attention to her other two team mates. With a quick shot of chakra to the base of their skulls, they were awake.

"Sakura?" Yamato asked slowly as he looked around. "What happened? Where are we?"

"I don't know what happened," she commented. "And I've no idea where we are."

The fact of the matter was, she'd noticed that this wasn't the exact spot they were in before, the tree-line and terrain were all wrong, and there wasn't even any sign of the fight. "Perhaps traitor-kun's jutsu moved us away from the battlefield?" Sai speculated.

He turned to check over his belongings as Yamato's gaze moved to Sasuke. "Aren't you going to wake Sasuke as well?" he asked, and Sakura shook her head.

"I can't, he's in a coma," she told him, to his eye widening shock. "The best thing is to let him wake on his own, preferably under proper medical surveillance in Konoha."

Sai pulled out a container with soldier pills in them. "It seems that the combining jutsus have depleted our chakra," he noted. "Yamato-taichou and I should replenish them as quickly as possible. Will you be able to funnel chakra from your seal, Hag?"

Sakura nodded after giving Sai a small glare. "I'm already doing it," she told him. "But even my seal was damaged by the jutsus."

"How bad is it?" Yamato asked, concerned.

"Over a third of my stores are gone," Sakura told him. "I've repaired the seal, I should be able to fill it back up in at least four months, depending on circumstances."

Yamato nodded as he took his soldier pill. "We should probably get out from the open," he said. "Find somewhere safe until we can figure out our location."

He put his hand to the ground, closing his eyes. "There's a cave not too far from here, five minutes into the tree-line. It seems large enough to provide shelter."

"I'll carry traitor-kun," Sai said, bending down to haul Sasuke up. "Hag, I think he's put on some weight."

Sakura lightly cuffed him in the head, mindful he was carrying an injured man. "Shut up," she told him. "No one's all light and fluffy to carry when they're unconscious. Not even you, Sai."

Yamato led them to the cave he'd found, where Sakura immediately got her sleeping bag out of a storage scroll. Sai laid Sasuke out flat on it, then Yamato said, "Sai and I will head out, try to find out where we are. Put up a genjutsu as soon as we leave, then put on your headset. That way we can notify you when we return, and you can disable it."

Sakura nodded. Sai gave a smile before he and Yamato left, then she cast the genjutsu over the cave mouth. She sighed as she looked back at Sasuke. It would really only deter those who weren't sensitive to genjutsu, but even then, they should still have difficulty undoing it quickly enough to take her off guard.

While she waited, Sakura went through her gear to do an inventory. She was down some kunai and senbon, nothing too major. That was from both fights since heading out for their initial mission, though. Most of her fighting had been done with her fists and her feet, after all. She rearranged everything, then put it all back in the storage scroll, except for a book she'd packed just in case. It was a trashy romance novel, though it was nowhere as bad as Kakashi's Icha Icha books.

As she waited, her attention was divided between the book, Sasuke's condition, and keeping an eye out for intruders. After a couple of hours of waiting, the radio in her ear crackled.

"Sakura?" came Yamato's voice. "We're coming up to the cave."

Sakura quickly stashed her book, then released the initial stages of the genjutsu, her stance slightly defensive just in case. Once she saw Yamato and Sai coming, she relaxed and dispelled the genjutsu with relief. But then she noted the seriously worried looks on their faces.

"What? What is it?"

The two of them shared a look, then Yamato said, "We didn't move. Apparently we were in the same place as before, but… Sakura, we went to where Tarui is supposed to be, but it wasn't even there."

"Wasn't…"

"The bridge is gone, too," Sai spoke up. "There's no sign that it was attacked, no wreckage or signs of destruction. It's as if the town and bridge never even existed."

Sakura took a deep breath and looked down at Sasuke. "What did your jutsu do, Sasuke-kun?" she murmured.

"We need to get back to Konoha," Yamato said. "The disappearance of an entire town is no small thing, especially when it leaves no trace of _anything_."

After packing everything up, Yamato asked Sai, "Do you think there's any way your large bird could carry all four of us?"

The artist-nin shook his head. "Three is the limit, Yamato-taichou," he said. "I could take Sasuke on ahead, if you would like."

Sai using Sasuke's _actual_ name was a give-away to Sakura on how concerned he was. "I need to keep a constant eye on him," she told them. "Unless you think the bird would be fine without you…"

Sai shook his head. "Only the smaller ones for scouting are able to be more than a certain distance from me," he said, then sighed and moved forward to pick Sasuke up. "I'll carry him again for awhile. Yamato-taichou, perhaps you could take over halfway back to the village?"

"Of course," Yamato agreed. "Sakura, you'll be keeping a constant eye on his vital signs?"

"Of course," Sakura nodded.

They set off then, with a few of Sai's smaller ink birds scouting ahead. Despite what Yamato had said, Sakura didn't know how he was sure they were actually in the right place, as there were so many things that were out of place. If it weren't for Sai's birds, she was sure they would have gotten lost several times. But eventually they found the main river and used that as their guide back to the village.

The sun was setting as they reached the spot where the village gates should be looming before them. _Should be_ , because they _weren't_. "Where the _hell_ is the village?" Sakura demanded. "We're in the right spot, aren't we?"

"It _should_ be here," Yamato mused, setting Sasuke down carefully before he leapt up into the tallest tree he could see to get a better view. Once he came back down, he said, "This is incredibly strange. There's no village, no Hokage faces on the mountain… What could have happened to the village?"

"Maybe we were sent into another dimension?" Sai suggested, continuing at their looks, "I know from Sasuke's reports that his rinnegan allows him to slip between dimensions. Maybe this is a product of that?"

"It would explain a lot…" Yamato mused.

"So, a world where Konoha was never formed?" Sakura asked.

"Or perhaps a world of the past?" Yamato suggested. "Maybe even our own past?"

"The rinnegan is _that_ strong?"

They were silent as they thought on the ramifications, then Sakura sighed. "This changes _everything_ , of course," she said worriedly, moving over to where Yamato had laid Sasuke down to check on him. "Sasuke's in a _coma_. Without the resources of Konoha's hospital… It's not good."

"What do you mean?" Sai asked.

"Before the invention of IV drips and properly functioning feeding tubes, people in a coma would almost always _die_ within a few days," Sakura said.

The ramification of that startled them, and the two men in front of her glanced down at Sasuke, worry evident on different levels on their faces. "Fortunately," Sakura continued, "I know a few methods of keeping someone in a coma alive _without_ IV drips. It means I won't be able to be away from him for longer than a few days at a time, to prevent him from dying of dehydration."

"How?" Yamato asked.

"I can use medical ninjutsu to stimulate his swallowing reflexes so we can feed him," Sakura said. "People in coma's don't have the ability to swallow, otherwise. I'm going to need both of your help for this."

"Anything we can do to help, Sakura," Sai said seriously, then smiled. "At least now you have a good excuse to remain by traitor-kun's side, right Hag?"

The fist in his face a moment later was well deserved, in Sakura's opinion.

OoOoO

They stayed in the borders of their missing village that night. Yamato erected a temporary shelter for them, while Sai went out to catch some fish from the nearby river. He came back with two fish, both already cleaned, and once they were cooked, Sakura used a quarter of the cooked meat to make a broth with some water and a few dried vegetables she had in her pack. With Sai holding Sasuke in a sitting position, Sakura spooned the broth into Sasuke's mouth, one hand on his throat as she triggered his swallow reflex, making sure than _none_ of it went into his lungs.

Once they were all fed, Sakura asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"We need to find out _exactly_ where and when we are," Yamato decided. "I don't think we should stay here, we should find a town or village so we can have access to supplies and such."

"We must assume that our resources will not be able to sustain us," Sai agreed. "For example, any currency we carry may not be of any use."

"Ryo has been used for _centuries_ though," Sakura said. "We'd have to be pretty far back for it not to count. Or that whole alternate dimension thing might mean there's a different currency."

"The only way to find out would be to find a town, as I mentioned," Yamato said. "When we do, we'll scout it out, try to learn as much as possible so we can blend in. We can't risk sticking out, especially if we are in the past in our own time-line."

"We need to find a way back," Sai said. "It is likely that traitor-kun is our only real chance at returning, but otherwise, there is always space-time and time travel jutsus."

"You're assuming we'd be able to access that kind of information," Sakura said. "We need facts first, then we can find our way home."

"First thing in the morning, I'll send out some clones to scout out the surrounding areas," Yamato said. "As soon as they find something, I'll have them dispel so we know which way to go. For now, we should sleep. We've had one heck of a day, and need to replenish our chakras, as well as rest from our two fights. I'll take the first watch, then Sai. Sakura, stay close to Sasuke."

They all nodded. Sasuke was already in Sakura's sleeping bag, not having his own, so Yamato had given her his. He would take over Sai's when they switched shifts. Not having adequate sleeping arrangements for all four of them wasn't too much of an issue yet, since one of them would always be on watch.

Sakura dozed lightly, and in the morning, was woken by Sai, who'd already stirred Yamato. They packed everything up, Sakura did a quick check up on Sasuke, then they settled in to wait for the clones that Yamato had already sent out. A few hours or so later, and two of them dispelled within twenty minutes of one another. The last one happened as they were about to leave for the one the first clone had found.

"Which way do we go then?" Sakura asked.

"With the second one," Yamato said. "The town that clone found is bigger so there would be more resources there. Also, the larger population would mean it would also be easier to blend in. It's to the north, should only take a couple of hours to reach it."

They set off then, with Yamato carrying Sasuke first this time. Sakura stayed close enough to keep an eye on her unexpected patient, knowing she'd likely know if something went wrong before her taichou. Sai was keeping pace on the other side of Yamato as they travelled. Once they realised they would be there within half an hour, they slowed their pace.

"It's not too far," Yamato said. "My clone dispelled about ten minutes out from the village."

Sakura was about to answer, but then they all froze when the clash of steel rent the air, and a blood curdling scream reverberated through the forest.

 **So how was it? That stuff with the comas, deaths, and swallowing reflexes was something I didn't know about, until I went researching it. Not too thoroughly, but I found this bit written by an expert, and I'm going with what they said.**

 **Also, in case anyone wonders, Sakura was the one who woke up first just because of the chakra in her seal. Fractured or not, it was automatically trickling out to heal her.**

 **Review please! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter has been editied._

 **Hiya! So, I'm posting this _just_ before I have to turn the internet off and go to bed. :)**

 **Standard disclaimer that I don't own Naruto.**

 **Chapter Three**

She wasn't really thinking when she rushed forward. All thoughts of staying out of things and keeping a low profile went out of her head in that moment. Sakura dashed through the trees and reached a road, in time to see several men surrounding a young woman near a wagon. She sensed Sai right next to her as she leapt down, fist coming in hard to connect with the nearest person.

"Cha!"

A roundhouse kick sent the next one flying as the men realised they were under attack. They scurried into a basic formation as Sai dove in with a kunai. Next thing, Yamato was there taking out another. Sakura registered that the woman they'd been attacking had made a dash for the wagon to hide as her three unexpected saviours dealt with her attackers.

Once they were dealt with, Sakura turned to the woman, whose clothes were slightly torn. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Nervously, the woman nodded. Then she gasped. "Otou-san!" she cried, running over to one of several fallen figures that _weren't_ one of the attackers Sakura and the others had taken out.

"Otou-san! Can you hear me?" she cried. "No, please, no!"

Sakura rushed forward, hands glowing green as she checked on him. "What are you doing?" the girl asked fearfully.

"I'm a medical ninja," Sakura told her, as she discovered that the older man was injured and unconscious, but alive. "Your father's going to be fine, I promise."

And indeed, several moments later, the man groaned and opened his eyes. "Yuzuki," he sighed, then stiffened when he saw Sakura, Sai, and Yamato.

"Otou-san!" Yuzuki cried. "I was so scared that you'd died! And then _these_ people came and saved me, and her… She _saved_ you!"

Yuzuki's father sat up and looked around. "You saved us?" he asked. "Why? Ninja don't usually save people without being _paid_ first."

"Well, we like to think that we're a _different_ kind of ninja," Yamato said, coming forward with Sasuke in his grasp once more. "Sakura, check on the other men, see if you can do anything for them."

"Oh, yes please!" Yuzuki nodded eagerly. "They… We hired them as bodyguards, but we didn't expect such a large force of bandits to attack. We're only carrying herbs and tea, after all."

"Not a truly valuable target," Sai mused. "Though I suppose it depends on what they wanted."

Sakura checked on the other men, but found no one alive. "I'm sorry," she told them.

"Oh, well," Yuzuki's father said sadly. "At least they fought valiantly, I shall be sure to assure their associates of that. Oh, let me introduce myself. I am Hiraoka Kohaku. This is my daughter Yuzuki. We run a chashitsu in Shirosato, the town near here."

"It is strange that they attacked you so close to a town," Sai said. "I would think they would have tried some distance back. Perhaps they were desperate? Or it was a last minute decision?"

Kohaku shrugged. "I have no idea," he said, "but I am glad that the three of you came along when you did. Oh, who is that with you?"

He was indicating Sasuke, still being held by Yamato. "We were also recently attacked," Yamato said. "Our friend here was injured badly, he's in a coma."

Yuzuki gasped. "Oh, that is terrible!" she said. "Is there nothing you can do?"

This question was directed at Sakura. "All I can do is use my chakra to keep him alive," she said. "But it is not going to be easy, since we have nowhere to stay, and no way of paying for somewhere to go, either."

"That's a real problem," Kohaku said. "But the money we were going to give our guards when we arrived safely home is yours, hopefully that can help. Perhaps first we should give these folks a decent burial. That is something that is rare on the road these days."

Yamato used his earth style to create graves for the fallen guards, and also they dumped the bandits in a mass grave, though not before relieving them of anything of value. All they really had, though, were their weapons. The weapons of the guards would be returned to their associates. Then, Yuzuki made room on the wagon, and Sasuke was carefully placed on there.

"He's really handsome," the girl sighed, then blushed when Sakura gave her a weird look. "Oh, sorry! Is he your husband or…?"

"He is," Yamato said before Sakura could say anything, ignoring the look she gave _him_ now.

"Oh! So sorry!" Yuzuki apologised.

"It's alright," Sakura sighed, looking down at Sasuke. "He _is_ handsome, after all."

Yuzuki smiled, then returned to where her father was getting the cart ready at the front.

"Why did you say that?" Sakura whispered harshly to Yamato, making sure Yuzuki and Kohaku were out of ear shot.

"We're in the past before Konoha was established," he said. "Do you remember your history lessons from the Academy?"

Sakura scoffed. "You think men are gonna get on one knee and propose left right and centre?" she asked.

"Not so sure about 'left right and centre'," Yamato said. "But it's better to be safe than sorry. You're a young woman in the company of three men, and you're not part of a clan. It's just a precaution, don't worry too much."

Sakura sighed. "You're probably right," she conceded.

The trip into the city took twenty minutes with the wagon and civilians. Once inside the boundaries, they made their way to the other side of the town, which housed a lot of greenery compared to the rest of the town. It was a decent sized place, though nowhere near as large as Konoha. They reached a rather traditional looking chashitsu, and Kohaku led the cart up behind it.

"What's up there?" Sai asked, pointing towards a path that led into a mini woods.

"Our family house," Kohaku told them. "It's a large house, but there's just Yuzuki and I now, so we both live in the chashitsu. We haven't lived up there since my sons left, and my wife passed on."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sakura murmured.

"Otou-san, maybe they could stay up there?" Yuzuki suggested. "After all, the money we gave them isn't really enough to pay for anywhere in town. Just until they can afford it."

"I don't know…" Kohaku said.

"We don't want to inconvenience you," Yamato said. "I'm sure we can find somewhere."

Kohaku sighed. "No, my daughter is correct," he said. "But the two of you, Sai and Yamato, wasn't it? You could find work as guards if you wanted. It pays well enough. And Sakura, if you could spare the time, perhaps you could help out at the chashitsu? We could use an extra hand."

The three (conscious) time or reality travellers exchanged a look. "Alright," Yamato agreed for them. "We can do that for now."

OoOoO

As Sai helped Kohaku unload the wagon, Yuzuki led them up to the minka, which turned out to be the very definition of a traditional style home.

"It's been awhile since anyone's stayed here," she said as she and Sakura opened the shuttered engawa. "There might be a few things that need fixing up… Still, there shouldn't be any major issues."

She slid open the shoji door into the genkan, where she, Sakura, and Yamato took off their shoes. Once fully inside, Yuzuki led them through to a shinshitsu, sliding open a todana and pulling out a futon. She laid it over near the window, and Yamato carefully eased Sasuke down onto it.

"Tou-san can show you a place to buy some food," she said. "And introduce you to some people you could get work from. Oh, there should be some old clothes around the house if you need some."

"Alright, I'll go back down with you," Yamato said. "Sakura, will you be alright up here?"

"Of course," Sakura said, then she was alone with Sasuke.

Looking down at her former team mate, she wondered just how long he was going to be in his coma. It would naturally be ideal if he woke sooner rather than later, but the damage done to him via his eyes and the forbidden jutsus left it an unknown quantity. It could be days from now, weeks, or even months. Still, as long as she continued to administer treatment the way she had been, at least there was still a chance.

Reaching down, she absently brushed his hair out of his face. In the year since he'd left the village to 'investigate' anything connected to Kaguya, Sasuke hadn't once returned. When he'd left, Sakura's offer to go with him had come from the place inside her that worried he actually _wouldn't come back_. Even though she heard of his regular reports, it had still been an issue that worried her. And of course, being in Fire Country, yet not willing to go to Konoha to deliver the scrolls…

Of course, that could just have something to do with the ones who'd been following him.

Sighing, Sakura pulled everything out of her pack, looking through all the medical supplies she had. She always over-packed when it came to her medical stuff, and this time had been no different. Unsealing everything in two scrolls, Sakura found all kinds of herbs, pills, sutures, recipes, and even a set of catheters. Hmm… She'd have to get either Sai or Yamato to help her with that.

Grabbing a small flash light, Sakura checked Sasuke's pupils, noting the sluggish dilation. It concerned her, though not as much as the fact that _both_ of his eyes were black. She knew that he hadn't been able to turn off his rinnegan before, and with the chakra depleting nature of their method of arriving in this past or alternate world, she wondered if that had anything to do with it.

Unlike the rest of them, Sasuke's chakra reserves had remained low. Food and rest were doing nothing for him in that regard, though she had no idea why. If it didn't change soon…

Standing up, Sakura moved about the house, opening it up to air it out a bit, and checking for the signs of neglect that Yuzuki had hinted at. Several shoji were torn, though the shutters of the engawa had protected them for the most part. There were several cracks here in there in the wooden structure of the house, and a quick glance outside told her that the amadoi were blocked in several places.

As she wandered through the house, Sakura felt Yamato and Sai's chakra signatures approaching. "This is a very aesthetic home," Sai remarked as they entered. "I could definitely find some inspiration here."

"How's Sasuke?" Yamato asked.

"Stable," Sakura told him. "His chakra still hasn't recovered, which worries me. But also, his rinnegan is deactivated."

"I thought he couldn't switch it off?" Sai commented.

"I think the extreme chakra loss has something to do with it," Sakura said. "How did you two go with supplies?"

Yamato pulled out a scroll and unsealed a bunch of food. "There's a really good place with fresh produce," he said as Sakura bent down to sift through vegetables, fruits, and preserved meats. "Also, Kohaku introduced me to someone who agreed to take Sai and I on for a contract."

"That's great," Sakura said, still rummaging through the food. "Oh, by the way, I'm gonna need one of you to help me soon with setting up a catheter for Sasuke. I can only use my chakra to hold back his waste for so long."

Sakura looked up to see that Sai had mysteriously vanished. "Great! Thanks for volunteering, Yamato-taichou!" she said, and the man in question turned quite pale before reluctantly nodding his agreement.

OoOoO

Later that night, with Sasuke completely set up, and the house thoroughly sorted out, Sakura sat talking with Yamato in low tones as Sai patrolled the perimeter on his own insistence.

"So, did you learn anything about when we might be while you were in town?" Sakura asked.

Nodding, Yamato told her, "I overheard a conversation that leads me to believe that we're in the Warring States Period. There was talk of the Morita clan, which went extinct during that time period."

"Do you suppose that _he's_ out there somewhere?" Sakura murmured.

"He?" Yamato tilted his head enquiringly.

"Uchiha Madara," she clarified. "Do you think… maybe we could do something to prevent the future from happening the way it did?"

Silence, then Yamato sighed. "Perhaps this is something best discussed when Sasuke wakes," he suggested, ignoring the _if_ factor of his statement. "Sakura… It could be _dangerous_ meddling with the time-line."

"Technically we already have," she argued. "Yuzuki and Kohaku would have _died_ if we hadn't been there. That's a change that's already happened!"

Another sigh, then Yamato stood. "I'll go get Sai, we should discuss this together."

Sai ended up agreeing with Yamato. "We really should do our best to stay out of things," he said. "As hard as it may be for you to hear, it probably would have been best not to interfere with Kohaku-san and his daughter. But it's too late now, of course."

"And what if you two alter things with this guard duty of yours?" Sakura argued. "Isn't that the same thing?"

"Of course it is," Yamato agreed. "But it's necessary for us to exist until Sasuke wakes."

"What's our back story?" Sai asked. "Have either of you mentioned anything to Kohaku-san or his daughter?"

"Well, for starters," Yamato said. "Yuzuki already believes that Sasuke is Sakura's husband."

"When was this?" Sai enquired.

"On the way into town," Sakura said. "Yuzuki asked, and Yamato-taichou gave her an affirmative."

Sai smiled. "So I guess this is a dream for you, Hag?" he asked. "Finally married to your Sasuke-kun."

Sakura whacked him in the head as Yamato said, "Perhaps it would be best if you lost the habit of calling her ugly. I also hinted to Kohaku that you and I are related to her on her mother's side. Even though we're ninja, he seemed concerned that we were travelling alone with her and her comatose husband."

"How are we related, exactly?" Sakura asked.

"Your mother was my older sister, and Sai is your second cousin," she was told.

In the end, Sakura agreed to just simply exist. Whatever changed, wouldn't be deliberate on their part. But if… _when…_ Sasuke woke, Sakura wondered if he would agree with Yamato and Sai, or if he'd want to track Uchiha Madara down and kill him himself.

 **So what did you think? Now that they know the basics of _when_ they are, how will things play out? I'll guess we'll see. ;)**

 **Review please!**

 _Glossary:_

 _Chashitsu: Tea house._

 _Minka: Traditional Japanese house._

 _Engawa: Japanese porch._

 _Genkan: Entryway into a Japanese home where you take your shoes off._

 _Shinshitsu: Bedroom._

 _Todana: Cupboard._

 _Amadoi: Rain gutters._


End file.
